Two Photographers

Jay Beyer is an outdoor adventure photographer based out of Salt Lake City, Utah. He learned photography almost by accident when his wife, Rachel bought a camera from a friend. At that time they were traveling across the country rock climbing, and at the same time Beyer started reading and picking up tips from his father (a photographer himself) and soon was getting great shots of rock and ice climbing, skiing. Eventually Beyer started seeing photos in magazines that didn't seem to compare to his own, so he sent some in, and they began to sell. Now he has clients including Black Diamond, Chaco, Mountain Hardwear, Patagonia, and Voile, as well as contributing to magazines like National Geographic Adventure, Backpacker, Powder, Outside, The Ski Journal, and Alpinist. Beyer says his motivation is not the money, but the joy he gets from the art of photography itself, keeping his and his friends memories of thier adventures sharp with pictures.

On a somewhat related topic, I've always loved wildlife photography, so I've written about one of them as well. Last year during a trip to Yellowstone National Park with a class I had the opportunity to meet Dan Hartman, a wildlife photographer that lives in Silvergate (there's plenty of wildlife there, we saw two flying squirrels and a fox in the hour we were at his house). Dan and his wife Cindy own and operate Silver Gate Gallery where they sell their photos. Dan has also been published in National Geographic, National Wildlife and acted as a guide for some of the filming of the series Planet Earth. Dan has spent years studying wildlife as well as photography in order to get the best pictures possible. He has spent thousands of hours exploring Yellowstone and the surrounding forests in search of the classic charismatic megafauna, as well as smaller, often more elusive creatures like pine martens, weasels, and owls. The combination of ecology, photography, and outdoor exploring really appeals to me, and Dan seems to have that mastered.


Jay Beyer's photos can be seen here.
Dan Hartman's photos can be seen here.